Bible Reading December 27 (World English Bible)
Zechariah
1-4
Zec
1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of
Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the
prophet, saying,
Zec
1:2 "Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.
Zec
1:3 Therefore tell them: Thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'Return to me,'
says Yahweh of Armies, 'and I will return to you,' says Yahweh of
Armies.
Zec
1:4 Don't you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets
proclaimed, saying: Thus says Yahweh of Armies, 'Return now from your
evil ways, and from your evil doings;' but they did not hear, nor
listen to me, says Yahweh.
Zec
1:5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live
forever?
Zec
1:6 But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the
prophets, didn't they overtake your fathers? "Then they repented
and said, 'Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according
to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with
us.' "
Zec
1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the
month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came
to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet,
saying,
Zec
1:8 "I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a
red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine;
and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
Zec
1:9 Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?' " The angel who
talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."
Zec
1:10 The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "They
are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth."
Zec
1:11 They reported to the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle
trees, and said, "We have walked back and forth through the
earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace."
Zec
1:12 Then the angel of Yahweh replied, "O Yahweh of Armies, how
long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah,
against which you have had indignation these seventy years?"
Zec
1:13 Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and
comforting words.
Zec
1:14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, "Proclaim,
saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "I am jealous for Jerusalem
and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Zec
1:15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was
but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity."
Zec
1:16 Therefore thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Jerusalem
with mercy. My house shall be built in it," says Yahweh of
Armies, "and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem."
'
Zec
1:17 "Proclaim further, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies:
"My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will
again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem." ' "
Zec
1:18 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns.
Zec
1:19 I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these?"
He answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah,
Israel, and Jerusalem."
Zec
1:20 Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
Zec
1:21 Then I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He said,
"These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man
lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down
the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land
of Judah to scatter it."
Zec
2:1 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring
line in his hand.
Zec
2:2 Then I asked, "Where are you going?" He said to me,
"To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is
its length."
Zec
2:3 Behold, the angel who talked with me went forth, and another
angel went out to meet him,
Zec
2:4 and said to him, "Run, speak to this young man, saying,
'Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of
the multitude of men and livestock in it.
Zec
2:5 For I,' says Yahweh, 'will be to her a wall of fire around it,
and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
Zec
2:6 Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,' says Yahweh; 'for
I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,' says Yahweh.
Zec
2:7 'Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of
Babylon.'
Zec
2:8 For thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'For honor he has sent me to the
nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple
of his eye.
Zec
2:9 For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a
spoil to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of
Armies has sent me.
Zec
2:10 Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I
will dwell in the midst of you,' says Yahweh.
Zec
2:11 Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and
shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you
shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.
Zec
2:12 Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and
will again choose Jerusalem.
Zec
2:13 Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself
from his holy habitation!"
Zec
3:1 He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of
Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
Zec
3:2 Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes,
Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn't this a burning
stick plucked out of the fire?"
Zec
3:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing
before the angel.
Zec
3:4 He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying,
"Take the filthy garments off of him." To him he said,
"Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I
will clothe you with rich clothing."
Zec
3:5 I said, "Let them set a clean turban on his head." So
they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the angel
of Yahweh was standing by.
Zec
3:6 The angel of Yahweh protested to Joshua, saying,
Zec
3:7 "Thus says Yahweh of Armies: 'If you will walk in my ways,
and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my
house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place of
access among these who stand by.
Zec
3:8 Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit
before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will
bring forth my servant, the Branch.
Zec
3:9 For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one
stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving,' says
Yahweh of Armies, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one
day.
Zec
3:10 In that day,' says Yahweh of Armies, 'you will invite every man
his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.' "
Zec
4:1 The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a
man who is wakened out of his sleep.
Zec
4:2 He said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I have
seen, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top
of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of
the lamps, which are on the top of it;
Zec
4:3 and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl,
and the other on the left side of it."
Zec
4:4 I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying,
"What are these, my lord?"
Zec
4:5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Don't you
know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord."
Zec
4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is the word
of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by
my Spirit,' says Yahweh of Armies.
Zec
4:7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain;
and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to
it!' "
Zec
4:8 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Zec
4:9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this
house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh
of Armies has sent me to you.
Zec
4:10 Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven
shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of
Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth
through the whole earth."
Zec
4:11 Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the
right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?"
Zec
4:12 I asked him the second time, "What are these two olive
branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the
golden oil out of themselves?"
Zec
4:13 He answered me, "Don't you know what these are?" I
said, "No, my lord."
Zec
4:14 Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand
by the Lord of the whole earth."
Revelation
15, 16
Rev 15:1
I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels
having the seven last plagues, for in them God's wrath is finished.
Rev 15:2
I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who
overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing
on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
Rev 15:3
They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the
Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
Rev 15:4
Who wouldn't fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are
holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your
righteous acts have been revealed."
Rev 15:5
After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the
testimony in heaven was opened.
Rev 15:6
The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with
pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their breasts.
Rev 15:7
One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven
golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
Rev 15:8
The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his
power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven
plagues of the seven angels would be finished.
Rev 16:1
I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels,
"Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the
earth!"
Rev 16:2
The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became
a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast,
and who worshiped his image.
Rev 16:3
The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became
blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died.
Rev 16:4
The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water,
and they became blood.
Rev 16:5
I heard the angel of the waters saying, "You are righteous, who
are and who were, you Holy One, because you have judged these things.
Rev 16:6
For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you
have given them blood to drink. They deserve this."
Rev 16:7
I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and
righteous are your judgments."
Rev 16:8
The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to
scorch men with fire.
Rev 16:9
People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name
of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and
give him glory.
Rev 16:10
The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his
kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain,
Rev 16:11
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and
their sores. They didn't repent of their works.
Rev 16:12
The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its
water was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings
that come from the sunrise.
Rev 16:13
I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of
the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean
spirits, something like frogs;
Rev 16:14
for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to
the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for
the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
Rev 16:15
"Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and
keeps his clothes, so that he doesn't walk naked, and they see his
shame."
Rev 16:16
He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew,
Megiddo.
Rev 16:17
The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came forth
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is
done!"
Rev 16:18
There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so
great an earthquake, so mighty.
Rev 16:19
The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the
nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God,
to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20
Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21
Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the
sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the
hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe.
How
should a sinner react to the gift of salvation freely offered by Jesus?
What is man’s appropriate response to learning about the crucified
Creator and Savior of the world?